All Rise...

Judge David Johnson thinks Ivan Drago is a Big Time Russian.

Editor's Note

Our review of Big Time Rush: Season One, Volume One, published March 29th, 2011, is also available.

The Charge

Yep. Still sort of like this show. Sue me.

The Case

I am on record of being fairly impressed with Big Time Rush, an energetic, surprisingly clever show-business-spoof series that has become one of Nickelodeon's bigger hits. The show follows four hockey player friends from Minnesota as they attempt to build themselves into the next big boy band; it's ironic in that is pokes fun at the manufacturing of stardom, yet it's pretty clear Nick is clearly trying to do the same thing.

So, yes, it's a transparent vehicle for generating some cross-promotional cash generating power, not unlike, say, Hannah Montana, but at least it's not a self-serious exercise. There is some genuinely witty writing at work and the four leads are self-deprecating enough to give their characters quirk and charm without coming across as douchey Backstreet Boy clones.

Season One, Volume Two brings six 30 minutes episodes and a TV movie, which is essentially a beefed-up regular episode in fake widescreen:

Disc One
• "Big Time Blogger"
• "Big Time Terror"
• "Big Time Dance"
• "Big Time Sparks"

Disc Two
• "Big Time Fever"
• "Big Time Video"
• "Big Time Concert" (TV Movie)

That's 192 minutes of shenanigans and on balance it's all legitimately amusing. Big Time Rush isn't high art and it's still besieged by occasional lameness—presence of an annoying, precocious little kid, shameless celebrity promotion (Jordin Sparks gets an entire episode), a befuddling amount of eyeliner—but as far as teen shows go, I'll take this over pretty much everything else out there. At least there's some wit to be found. The music sucks llama schlong though.

Standard-issue Nick release: full frame, 2.0 stereo, some brief behind-the-scenes segments and the pilot episode for the Harry Potter knock-off, House of Anubis.

The Verdict

Not Guilty.

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